At my wits end please advice and help

[nixnewcastle]

Ok so my situation is at the moment im rediculously stressed out as im not getting anywhere near as much work as i need in my beauty room. Im in the middle of having new price leaflets done to do a leaflet drop with in the hope things will pick up a bit and i've also redone my website www.butterfly-beauty.com The clients that i do have at the moment seem to be canceling stating they're skint. If you look at my price list on the website you'll see im far from expensive so cant and dont think i should be reducing my prices. Im also really skint so cant really pay anything else for advertising.
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice or maybe even just something to say to make me feel better and is anyone else finding this?

 

[crazysaz]

i started my business 3 1/2 yrs ago and it took me over a yr before i made any money. The 1st yr was just staying afloat! 2nd yr what little i made I put back into the shop and 3rd yr I finally managed to lift a wage regularly! Yes, your prices are cheap but maybe that could be part of the prob - you're attracting cheap clients! My 1st yr I did tans really cheap, most salons in my area took 1/2 hr to do tans, they were £30 and they werent very good. I bought in cheaper tan that was actually very good, managed to do em in about 4 min and only charged £15 and I was sooo busy. Do packages, these worked well for me, like a file and polish and a spray for £20. No matter how much advertising you do it really just takes time. If you advertise too much and do things too cheap you look desperate. Try and keep clients so that they are repeat business instead like top up tans for a tenner, nail extension infills, do discounts to get em booked back in. It really is mostly word of mouth and unfortunately it just takes time.

 

[daisyl]

i started my business 3 1/2 yrs ago and it took me over a yr before i made any money. The 1st yr was just staying afloat! 2nd yr what little i made I put back into the shop and 3rd yr I finally managed to lift a wage regularly! Yes, your prices are cheap but maybe that could be part of the prob - you're attracting cheap clients! My 1st yr I did tans really cheap, most salons in my area took 1/2 hr to do tans, they were £30 and they werent very good. I bought in cheaper tan that was actually very good, managed to do em in about 4 min and only charged £15 and I was sooo busy. Do packages, these worked well for me, like a file and polish and a spray for £20. No matter how much advertising you do it really just takes time. If you advertise too much and do things too cheap you look desperate. Try and keep clients so that they are repeat business instead like top up tans for a tenner, nail extension infills, do discounts to get em booked back in. It really is mostly word of mouth and unfortunately it just takes time.

I have to second that. Word of mouth is mostly what builds your business - but is also the slowest. How about a recommend a friend scheme - get your clients to do the marketing for you X

 

[jotommo]

recommend a friend is a great idea, i do £5 off next colour service for the person that recommends them and it does work.... i ama mobile hairdresser and find that keepin my prices low works for me but as a salon owner.. (i just sold my salon) you obv have to think of paying the rent , bills on the shop,
if you don't mind me askin do you rent rooms out or anything?? this can bring money and custom if the therapist has a clientelle.
also maybe a loyalty card,, get 6th treatment free or somthing??

best of luck x

 

[nixnewcastle]

The reason i've priced my prices how i have is because there is a salon not far from me that offers treatments at those prices and she has a salon and i only have a small beauty room with no reception so I guess im thinking i dont want clients to look at my prices and think sod that im not going there when round the corner does that for however much. Do you think my prices are way to cheap or are they ok?

 

[bombini]

Is your room in a hair salon ?

I checked your website and unless im having a blonde day I can't find ANY contact/location details for you !

 

[jotommo]

they are ok, i thought you had a full salon.... you need to do all the FREE advertisin you can,,
googlemaps
yell.com
facebook
myspace
bebo
walk round town handing flyers out and basically dragging people in lol
do an open evenin/day and offer discounts.. and give away free fizzy wine or champers if your feeling flush..

do some packages....
market yourself as much as poss,
good luck xx

 

[connor1]

A vast majority of my work is reccomendation, word of mouth etc. Reccomend a friend scheme is always good..why not try an open evening let everyone see what you'r all about and if they book treatments especially courses of treatments with you on the eve offer "special discount" etc. xx Do you specialise in anything? xx

 

[connor1]

I ask this cz i cant get onto your site to view your treatment menu xx

 

[Zo Zo]

Do you have all your existing / previous clients names and addresses?

Can you mail them 'special offers for Sept' ?

Then when they come in for a special offer treatment, chat to them about somethng else that might be good for them and suggest they book in for it!

I would try marketing to existing clients.

 

[jotommo]

on your site chick you have wrote combined with the highest quality products, twice,,,,
and you defo need to put your contact details on to it xxxxx

 

[crazysaz]

also see how easy your site is to find on google. mine comes up near the 1st and i get a lot through this. i mind only lifting £50 a week my 1st yr. starting a business is not easy - if it was everyone would be at it. my wee shop is OK but Ive just found out there's another one coming, plus a nss opened a while ago. business is hard! you can never rest on your laurels!

 

[persianista]

It is tough at the moment. People on here say how fantastically well they are doing, but one persons idea of busy ca be different from anothers.
I generally do approx 45 to 50 clients per week and am hovering at the 40 t0 45 per week at the moment. Please believe me when I say, if I'm quiet, then its quiet out there!!
Control all your costs and keep going. It will pick up again.
There is little point spending on advertising if our clients are skint. Walls don't spend on advertising ice cream in winter!
Chin up x

 

[Mizzmarni]

Dont worry gorgeous it will get better!

Also there are some cheap ways to market your business.. leaflets are fine.. make a snazzy design on your desktop n print them off, cheaper alternative to buying them printed (although they are quite cheap at the mo depending on what you want)

Poss put a special offer on there like but 1 get 1 half price (only if 2 people have treatments).. do this to encourage the person to bring their friend who hopefully will get hooked on your fab treatments so you will have new clients..

Do you have any exisiting clients? if you do you can do some offers for them to bring a friend also. Repeat customers are much highly valued than new ones as you know the repeat customers will pritty much come once a month (or whatever!)

If you need more help give me a shout

Good luck... and it will be fine!

X

 

[essentia]

Just to mention I do not think that you are making the most of your home page. Although a nice picture of butterflies you would be better using this space to show a picture of your salon or yourself. The butterfly logo on your about page is lovely and enough in my opinion. A note about prices - I charge £30.00 for hollywood/brazilian waxing more than the salons in town and I have regular clients. Some come to me from town as I do a more thorough wax and I am home based. You do need to be aware of area prices but if you can justify it by quality, product and service you will not have a problem. :hug:

 

[nixnewcastle]

Updated the website again and yes for some reason i had a total blonde moment and didn't put the contact details in DUH!
What do you think now?
beauty salon for nails, tanning, beauty, make up and wedding make up - Home

 

[jotommo]

great x